On the Support Website

1. ONLY IF you want to add authorized computers (users), navigate to the Subscribe page and proceed accordingly.
2. Otherwise, prepare by reviewing the “Installation” topic in Technical Support section of this Knowledge Base.
3. Specifically, review in that topic the “Notes” and the “Installation” diagrams.

On the orignal, single-user licensed workstation

1. On the desktop, delete the “Ironworks ECM” shorcut.
2. Navigate to the Ironworks ECM folder on the local drive.
3. Cut it.

On the Server

1. Navigate to a drive accessible by all Ironworks users.
2. Paste to that drive the Ironworks ECM folder that you just cut from the original single-user workstation.

On EACH Workstation – including the original

1. Add a folder to the local drive named “Ironworks Application“.
2. Navigate to the Ironworks ECM folder you just put on the server drive.
3. Copy the Ironworks ECM.exe file.
4. Paste it to the local drive’s Ironworks Application folder that you just added.
5. Right-click on the Ironworks ECM.exe file that you just added.
6. Select the “Send to/Desktop (create shortcut)”
7. Open the Ironworks ECM.exe file that you just pasted.
8. Once Ironworks opens, click on the “Ironworks/Sys Admin/Shared Folder” command.
9. Specify the path from the workstation to the Ironworks ECM folder on the server using UNC notation, EXCEPT for mapped network drives, then simply select the drive and folder and press enter.
10. TIP: To determine the UNC path, press the “Windows key + R” then type “cmd” and click “OK”, then type “net use” and press “enter”. A list of your mapped drives appears, together with the their UNC paths.

Click on the Get update button in the dialog that is automatically displayed when you open Ironworks after a new version has been released. The new release automatically replaces the then current version of Ironworks on the subject computer.

NOTE: The automated web update function was updated December 18, 2023. As a result, every Ironworks user who installed Ironworks BEFORE that date must replace their current Ironworks ECM.exe file to get the latest release and re-enable automatic updates. To do so:  

• Download the “Ironworks ECM.zip” file from the support website to your computer’s “Downloads” folder  
• Unzip (extract) it 
• Copy the resulting extracted “Ironworks ECM.exe” file 
• Paste it to the folder on your computer that contains the current Ironworks ECM.exe file  
• For single-user/shared file installations: the “Ironworks ECM” folder on your computer’s C: drive 
• For multi-user/shared file installations: the “Ironworks Application” folder on your workstation’s local drive.  
• Be sure to overwrite the existing “Ironworks ECM.exe” file with the new one 
• Open, close, and open again the new “Ironworks ECM.exe” file to reenable automated updates.

 All future releases will be installed automatically when you click the “Get Update” button in the update dialog that appears when you open Ironworks after a new release becomes available. 

 

No. Only the path is changed. The shared files and folders must be manually moved using File Explorer. 

Automating this process is planned for a future release.

 Watch the “Quick Start Guide” video…

1. Browse to the Ironworks Support website. 

2. Click on the Support page / Knowledge Base option

3. Scroll down the Knowledge Base page to “Instructional Videos“ 

4. Click on “Quick Start Guide“ video

 

Play with the training estimate…

1. Click on the Ironworks ECM application – it will open the last saved estimate file, which for a new installation will be a “blank” estimate 

2. Click the “Ironworks” command in the Excel command bar at the top of the workbook. 

3. Click the “Ironworks/Open” command 

4. Pick the “Training…” estimate to open it. 

5. Click the “Ironworks/Save” command to save it under a new name; e.g., “My Training Estimate” 

6. Click on all of the tabs at the bottom of the screen one-by-one to examine the contents of each of the workbook’s worksheets. 

7. Click on the “Estimate Setup” worksheet tab. 

8. Click the “Ironworks/Rate Period” command in the Ironworks tool bar at the top of the screen 

9. Specify a NEW Rate Period DURATION and click “Save”. 

10. Click on all of the tabs at the bottom of the screen one-by-one to examine the NEW contents of each of the sheets. 

11. Edit the variable values (blue or brown colored figures) in any of the sheets and examine the results.  

12. When prompted, save changes

13. Exit Ironworks when finished, save your training estimate under a new name if you want to review it later.

The basic estimating process is represented by the order of the worksheets (tabs) at the bottom of the workbook. Notes are embedded in the worksheet’s column headers that explain each value.

1. Estimate Setup: specify the nature of the estimate.
2. Equipment List: specify the properties of the machines whose employment you wish to model to forecast their cost and calculate the charge rate needed to recover that cost during the Rate Period.
3. Custody Plans: specify the start and end date of custody for each of the machines in the Equipment List; i.e., when they will be/have been rented, leased, or purchased.
4. Employment Cost Factors: specify the cost factor values to be used to calculate each machine records employment cost. 
5. Overhead Cost Estimate: specify, if any, those overhead items whose cost are not attibutable to any one machine but instead to the fleet as a whole that are to be recovered by increasing the Charge Rate for one or more machines in the Equipment List; e.g. shop costs, mechanic trucks, service trucks, equipment management, etc.
6. MECE Calculations: examine the forecast cost estimates and charge rates for each machine record.
7. Fleet Employment Cost Schedules: examine the detailed breakdown and timing every machine’s employment cost estimate.
8. Visualizations: examine the charts depicting forecast employment costs and resource requirements.
9. Fleet Employment Cost Summary: examine the forecast cost and charge rate breakdown for the Rate Period for every machine AND export the worksheet to load your Job Cost Estimating and Equipment Cost Accounting systems.

Yes, more than one Machine Record can be created for the same machine (Equipment Number).  

In this way, any number of employment cases can be modeled for the Rate Period. That approach to modeling a machine’s employment is especially useful if different field conditions are forecast for different jobs a machine will be employed on over the course of the Rate Period. Or, if you want to play what-if games to see the effects of renting, leasing and owning. In the Training Estimate 18 employment cases are recorded for 1 machine.  

When you set up multiple Machine Records for the same machine, be careful not to overlap their forecast employment (in the Custody Plans sheet) if you want to use the Estimate to forecast actual monetary cost and resource requirements. Overlapping their employment will overstate forecast monthly monetary cost and resource requirements for the machine they represent.  

The practical limit for Machine Records in an Estimate is determined by the processing speed of the computer hosting Ironworks. About 3,000 Machine Records is typically the upper limit, even though Excel can accomodate 1,048,000.

Note that more than one Machine Record can be created for the same Equipment Number. In this way, any number of employment cases can modeled for the same machine; e.g., favorable, moderate and severe field condtions to match forecast employment. 

If you set up multiple Machine Records for one machine, be careful about forecasting its employment for the Rate Period so you don’t forecast more employment than is possible in a given month.

No.

To protect them from unauthorized use, Estimates produced at one company (subscription) cannot be opened by another company (subscription).

No.

To protect Estimates from unauthorized use, Estimates are NOT portable between subscriptions.

To share Estimates (and other shared files), Users’ computers must be authorized using the same subscription – and the “shared folder” must be installed in a directory that all users can access. 

If you want to convert two or more subsciptions to a single one, contact Support.